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While The Capri opened under the ownership of Masco Enterprises and Fred H. Massey, it was managed by Shelbyville resident Clyde Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs, who later owned the theatre, lives on in our memories of our times there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s where first kisses were stolen when the lights dimmed, frightened teenage girls hid their faces on their dates\u2019 chests during horror shows, and parents sometimes escaped for date nights. Countless school groups filled the auditoriums on field trips, often for the latest Disney release. Iconic appearances were made by Sir Cecil Creape, Herbie the Love Bug, former Vice President Al Gore, and others. There were even special giveaways, like shiny new bicycles, to further stir excitement and anticipation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Jacobs was living his dream. His son, David Jacobs, said, \u201cHe always told me, when you\u2019re running your own business you have to be there all the time. And he pretty well dedicated himself to making sure that place ran efficiently. And, of course, he maintained it meticulously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Except for the twinning of the theatres in 1979, the theatre remained unchanged until Clyde sold it in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter the remodel in the 60s, he never changed it. The carpet was the same, and he maintained the theatre meticulously. He would fix things that went wrong, but it was kind of his thing to maintain things perfectly as they were,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That maintenance included the equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David said, \u201cHe learned to work on many projectors, and he could take them apart completely and rebuild them. Part of how he supplemented his income from managing the theatre was by working on other people\u2019s equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding the second screen was not heard of at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David said, \u201cHe built a new projection booth downstairs and a screen upstairs with a soundproof wall. People would come from all over the place to see how he did it. Other small-town theatres followed suit and did the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI felt like he had a natural gift for business. He seemed to have developed his business rules from watching other people. He never had a formal education beyond his high school diploma. College wasn\u2019t an option; they were too poor for that. So he was more or less self-educated, and he prided himself on being fair and equitable with people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When times slowed, Clyde would return to what he knew worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David said, \u201cIn the old days, movies like \u2018Thunder Road\u2019 and \u2018Bullitt\u2019 were legendary to him because he knew he could play them any time of the year when business was slow, and they would draw a crowd. He liked what the public liked. At the end of the day, he was a businessman looking to feed his family.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike many small towns, Shelbyville is fortunate to have its theatre still in operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now owned by Patrick Curtis and Partners, the marquee lights up the evening sky approaching the square, warmly reminding us of this treasure from our past, present, and future. GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unlike many small towns, Shelbyville is fortunate to have its movie theatre, The Capri, still in operation. It is now owned by Patrick Curtis and Partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-8004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover","tag-january"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_9647-Patrick-Curtis-1024x683.jpg\")
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